'Yankees go home': Venezuela expels 3 top US diplomats

Three US diplomats have been accused by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of plotting with the country’s far right to sabotage the national electric grid. In a scathing TV address, the socialist leader told the diplomats to leave within 48 hours.

Maduro, who canceled his visit to the UN General Assembly a week
ago over an unspecified ‘US plot’, said he was expelling three
American diplomats.

"We detected a group of US embassy officials dedicated to
meeting the far-right and to financing and encouraging acts of
sabotage against the electrical system and Venezuela's
economy," the president said in a televised speech.

“Yankees go home!” he said in English, after announcing
the decision to oust the diplomats.

“Get out of here! I don't care what actions the government of
Barack Obama takes," Maduro added.

Among those expelled is Chargé d’Affairs, Kelly Keiderling, the
senior US diplomat in Venezuela in the absence of an ambassador.
Caracas and Washington have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010,
after the then incumbent President Hugo Chaves refused to accept
a newly appointed American envoy. The other two were consular
officer, David Moo, and Elizabeth Hoffman, who work in the
embassy’s political section.

Foreign Minister Elias Jaua later said on state TV that the
expelled Americans had met with opposition and labor leaders in
the southeastern state of Bolivar, and with the opposition
governor of Amazonas state, Liborio Guarulla. He said a protest
note was sent to US Secretary of State John Kerry about the
meeting.

The US Embassy rejected Venezuelan allegations of conspiracy,
saying the trip was “normal diplomatic engagement” with
opposition forces.

“We completely reject the Venezuelan government’s allegations
of US government involvement in any type of conspiracy to
destabilize the Venezuela government,” the Embassy said in a
statement. "We likewise reject the specific claims against the
three members of our embassy."

On Tuesday the US announced that three Venezuelan diplomats
had 48 hours to leave the country as its response to Venezuela's
expulsions.

A State Department spokesperson indicated that Venezuela’s
head of business affairs, Calixto Ortega, along with Marisol
Gutierrez de Almeida, attached to the country's Houston
consulate, and Mónica Alejandra Sánchez Morales, currently
assigned to the country’s Washington embassy, were all
persona non grata.

Since his election as Venezuelan president in April, Maduro has
spoken about a number of alleged plots against his government,
including five attempts on his life. His previous swipe against
the US government came earlier this month after his plane was
briefly blocked from flying over Puerto Rico en route to China.

Six months ago Maduro expelled two US military attaches hours
before announcing Chavez’ death from cancer. He later accused one
of them of plotting a coup against Chavez.

The opposition says Maduro, a protégé of Chavez, is trying to
divert attention from his inability to manage the country with
wild accusations and anti-Americanism. For the past few years
Venezuela has been suffering from power blackouts and shortages
of essential foodstuffs and medicines.

The opposition says rampant corruption, negligence and poor
governance is to blame, while the Venezuelan government says the
country’s economy is suffering from acts of sabotage.